Live data from Hacker News

Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

blog.lawnstarter.com

91–97 of 97 posts

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#91
post #29
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't you? I've got a list of things that I think could be improved. For instance: The interface of the remote control? Could be improved for elderly. The price of a CNC router? Could be cheaper. The atmosphere of that bar? Could be nicer. Easy to say, hard to do.

Same here. I want to make a battery powered noise canceling headphone that automatically shuts off if the jack isn't plugged in. Why should a 250 dollar pair of headphones not do this automatically when the battery is required for the experience!?

They do do this automatically. You may have been using the wrong type of headphones.

http://www.headphone.com/headphones/in-ear.php?sort=value&di...

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We're changing the world." This will be our excuse for low pay, crappy benefits, fast firing, and nonexistent career planning. We want you to think of yourself as a founder but you'll have employee-level equity and if you try to use our rising star to advance yourself (i.e. by acting like a founder in the public) we'll fire you. Those companies are halfway houses for college kids who don't want to grow up, but they'…

If you truly are changing the world for the better, (eg. healthcare, energy, non-profit, science, etc.) that's awesome and you should totally flaunt it. ...but if you're building another rehash of some shitty social network that helps people "connect" at a more "intimate" and "personal" level please don't say that you're changing the world. You may very well be changing the world but it'll be a shittier place when yo…

> and you should totally flaunt it.

Eh, not so much. Yes, you should be proud of what you're doing, but don't waste time "flaunting it." Spend that time getting the people and resources together you need to accomplish your mission. Passion about your mission isn't the same as flaunting what you're doing.

This also assumes that healthcare, clean energy, etc are "sexier" problems then connecting maids to people who want their house cleaned.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any idiot can buy an SUV on credit i take the point that you hate cars, but this isn't actually true.

I don't hate cars. I hate when people buy unnecessarily large, unsafe, and environmentally irresponsible cars as a status symbol.

guessing you've never had to drive around with a bunch of gardening equipment, or potted plants, or bags of soil, or take a crew of 5 out to lunch.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#94

The photo of Kate Upton on their "customer satisfaction" part of their main website really helps this.

I was slightly impressed after reading the blog post and then completely turned off by seeing that image. I almost thought they might have forgotten to take it off, but it seems pretty intentional. It's just so completely irrelevant to their message. It might be funny to men, but I can't imagine many women who would find that charming, so you're alienating the demographic that schedules services for their homes.

That was what stuck out to me most of all, after initially actually thinking it was a pretty good idea. I was totally turned off as a woman, and it make me feel immediately that this service, whatever it was, wasn't targeted at me.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#95
post #67
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world is extremely shitty place and you dont see that only because, I assume, you are the part of the top earning cohort.

And how many tech startups serve any other cohort?

Exactly! I don't see how an Uberpriced Taxi changes the world you describe.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#96
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was slightly impressed after reading the blog post and then completely turned off by seeing that image. I almost thought they might have forgotten to take it off, but it seems pretty intentional. It's just so completely irrelevant to their message. It might be funny to men, but I can't imagine many women who would find that charming, so you're alienating the demographic that schedules services for their homes.

That was what stuck out to me most of all, after initially actually thinking it was a pretty good idea. I was totally turned off as a woman, and it make me feel immediately that this service, whatever it was, wasn't targeted at me.

Seems like they copped up to it and said they forgot to remove it in their new HN piece.
Post reply on HN